Till.



A. F. STAPLES.

TILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1912,

1,052,854. Patented Feb. 11,1913.

W bam tho 1M ALBERT F. STAPLES, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

TrLL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Fee. 11', 1913..

Application filed May 6, 1912. I Serial No. 695,494.

H To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, ALBERT F. STAPLES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of 'Buflalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tills, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tills or cash-re ceivers of the type sometimes described as manual cash-recorders. In such devices it is common .to provide a cash-drawer with means for normally looking it in closed position, and a recording-sheet or pad upon which cash transactions are manually entered, the recording-device, or some part adjacent thereto, being movable under the pressure of the hand when such entry is made, and being connected with the lockingmechanism in such a manner as to release the cash-drawer.

The object of the present invention is to produce a device of the kind in question which shall be simple in construction and convenient in operation, and particularly one in whichthe' drayver may be released and opened without the simultaneous employment of both hands of the operator. To this end I employ an arrangement in which the movement of the recording-device acts to throw the drawer-locking mechanism, or a part thereof, out of operation, and in which I such mechanism is adapted to remain in inoperative position until the drawer has been opened and again closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the kind in question with means of novel-and simple construction, for

- supporting and retaining the record-sheet or pad.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a plan-view-of a till embodying the present invention, shown partly in horizontal section; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-'2 in F ig. 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a casing 3 of ordinary form, provided with a cash-drawer 4, and with a slanting lid 5 which is convenient for use as a desk and which is hinged at 6 so that it, may be raised to afford access to the interior of the casing. The casing is divided by a horizontal partition 10, the drawer being located beneath this partition, while the space above the partition may be employed, in the usual manner, as a receptacle for recordpads, account-books, etc.

Any convenient form of record-sheet may be employed, and in the drawings such sheet is indicated as being embodied in a pad or block 7. The support for this pad is constructed of a single piece of sheet-metal. This sheet is stamped in such a manner that the middle portion 8 is depressed below the marginal portion thus forming a marginal ofl set flange 9. An opening of suitable size is cut in the lid 5, in which the support is inserted, as shown in Fig. 2, in such amenner that the flange 9 rests upon the upper surface of the lid, while the middle portlon 8 depends somewhat below the surface of the lid. The flange may be secured to the lid by screws, as shown in the drawings.

In order to render the support movable for a purpose to be described, a slit 11 is cut in the sheet-metal close to the oflset margin thereof and around three sides of the part 8, as shown particularly in Fig. 1. The part 8 is thus attached to the flange 9 only at its upper or right-hand end, and, owing to the resiliency of the sheet-metal, it is free to bend downwardly when pressure is applied thereto. To limit such downward movement a spring-strip 35 is fixed beneath the lid 5, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to lie beneath the lower end of the part 8 of the support. The metal between the bottom 8 and the flange 9 is bent upto form a flange 42 which lies above the lower end of the bottom 8. When a pad of record-sheets is introduced in the holder, the bottom 8 is depressed thereby, and the lower end of the pad is then resiliently held against the flange 42. As the sheets are successively removed the bottom 8 continues to press the pad upwardly, thus maintaining the uppermost sheet always at a convenient level to be written upon. The

upper end of the pade is held in place by lugs 44 out from the body of the sheet-metal and bent upwardly into the plane of the flange 9.

The drawer-locking mechanism which is controlled by the hand of the user, in making an entry, comprises a latch 12 having a beveled lower extremity adapted to cooperate with a keeper 13. This keeper is screwed to the edge of the middle partition 34 of the cash-drawer, and is so formed that when the drawer is closed it will pass freely under the latch while the forward -movement of the drawer and the keeper is resisted by the engagement of the vertical surfaces of the latch and the keeper. The latch 12 is in the form of an arm having a hub 14, and this hub is pivoted upon a rockshaft 15 journaled, at its ends, in lugs 16 rising from the partition 25. A slot is pronection' with the making of a record, the hub 14 is provided with a segmental recess 17 whichis engaged by a lug 18 on the rockshaft. The rock-shaft is provided with an arm 19 which is held normally in 'raised position by a spring. 20. A hand-rest 38 is mountedon a plunger 39 sliding verticallyv through the cover 5, and the lower end of the plunger rests on the arm 19.

When the user of the device makes an entry on the record-pad the hand engages and depresses the. hand-rest, thus actuating the arm 19 and the rock-shaft 15 and causing the lu 18 to engage the end of the recess swing the latch upwardly out of operative position with respect to the keeper 13. To prevent rotation of the hand-rest and'to retain it in place on the cover a wire spring 41 is fixed to the bottom of the cover, and one end of this spring engages a transverse opening in the plunger 39. To maintain thelatch in inoperative position after it has been raised, as just described, and until the drawer has been opened and again closed, a detent 21 is pivoted at 22 upon a base-plate 40 fixed on the partition 10. This detent has a lugwhich is adapted to co-v operate with a lug 23 on the latch 12 when the latch has been raised, the engagement of these lugs serving to maintain the latch in raised position until the detent is tripped by the closing movement of the drawer. The detent is provided with a weighted arm 24 which holds it normally in operative position. To release the detent from'engagement with the latch when the drawer is moved to'closed position, a spring 25 is mounted on the drawer, one end of this spring being fixed beneath the keeper 13, as shown in Fig. 2. The I rear end of this spring is bent downwardly and then rearwardly to form a lug 26, and this lug is perforated to receive a screw 27 fixed in the back 28 of the drawer. The screw acts as an adjustable stop to determine the normal position of the spring. When the drawer is opened; the spring passes freely beneath the trip, since its resiliency permits it to be depressed thereby. When] the drawer is again closed, however, the shoulder near the rear extremity of thespring engages the lower extremity 29 of the trip,

Jand thus swings the trip to the right or rearwardlyfand disengages it from the latch. The latch then falls into operative position and the parts assume the normal position shown in Fig. 2, the drawer being thus locked until again released by movement of the hand-rest. The object of the formof connection described between the rock-shaft 15 and the hub 14 is to permit the latch to rise and fall, when the drawer is closed, without moving the hand-nest. To prevent the arm 19 from being raised above normal position by the spring 20 when the lid is raised, and for the further purpose of adjusting the normal height of the hand-rest, the rock-shaft has a second arm 45 provided with an adjustable stopscrew 46 which engages the base-plate of one of the lugs 16.

The till is illustrated as provided, in the usual manner, with an alarm-device to indicate when the cash-drawer is open. This device comprises a bell 31, having a striker 32 which is actuated by a trip 33 fixed to the back of the drawer. To cause the bell to be rung in case of unauthorized tampering with the till, a space is provided between the keeper 13 and the latch 12, as shown in Fig. 2, permitting the drawer to be moved far enough to actuate the alarm, even though it has not been released from the action of the locking-mechanism. The normal closed position of the drawer is determined by a stop 36 engaged by the back of the drawer.

In addition to the locking-mechanism hereinbefore described, the cash-drawer is, provided with the usual combination lockmechanism 43, comprising finger-keys for releasing the drawer, and this mechanism is mounted upon the front of the drawer, the keys being inclosed within the drawer-pull or handle 30. As such mechanisms are well known, it is unnecessary to describe any specific construction therefor.

It will be apparent that, owing to the operation of the detent 21, it is not necessary, in my improved till, either to operate the combination-mechanism and open the drawer at the same time that the recorder is held in depressed position, or to provide a spring for opening the drawer when released by the locking-mechanism. All of the operations required in connection with the till may, therefore, be conveniently performed, when necessary, by one hand, the record being first entered upon the recordsheet, and the combination mechanism being thus the present arrangement guards, as in previous manual cash-recorders, against the omission to make a suitable entry of the cash transaction through forgetfulnesson the part of the operator.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.

I claim 1 1. A till having, in combination, a cashdrawer; a latch normally locking the cashdrawer in closed position; an autographic recorder; means, operable by the hand in making a record, for throwing the latch into inoperative posit-ion to release the drawer; a detent for holding the latch in such inoperative position; and a trip carried by the drawer and adapted to cooperate with the detent to disengage the latter from the latch when the drawer is moved to closed position.

. 2. A movable record-sheet holder for manual cash-recorders comprising a metal plate centrally recessed to produce a marginal offset flange, the metal being slit, adjacent said flange, along three sides of the plate to produce a resiliently-yielding central portion, upon which a record-sheet may be carried, and a flange for engaging the lower margin of the sheet; the sheet being held resiliently against the flange by the upward premure of said central portion.

3. A movable record-sheet holder for manual cash-recorders comprising a metal plate centrally recessed to produce a marginal 'ofiset flange, the metal being slit, adjacent said flange, along three sides of the plate to produce a resiliently-yielding central-portion, upon which a record-sheet may be carried, and a flange for engaging the lower margin of the sheet; and a spring pressing upwardly against the lower end of said central portion, the sheet being held resiliently against said flange by the action of said central port-ion and spring.

4. A movable record-sheet holder for manual cash-recorders comprising a metal plate centrally recessed to produce a marginal offset flange, the metal being slit, adjacent said flange, along three sides of the plate to produce a resiliently-yielding central portion, upon which a record-sheet may be carried,

and a flange for engaging the lower margin of the sheet; lugs projecting inwardly above said central portion at the upper end of the record-sheet holder, and} means engaging the lower end of said central portion to support it against downward movement.

5. A till having, in combination, a cabinet with a hinged lid, a cash-drawer movable in the cabinet, a latch pivotally mounted inthe cabinet, a latch-keeper on the drawer cooperating with said latch, an arm pivoted adjacent said latch and having lost-motion connections therewith whereby the latch may be raised from the 'keeper when the arm is depressed, while the latch may be raised independently of the arm by the return movement of the keeper, amanually-operable member carried by the lid and vertically movable thereon, said member be ng normally supported by said arm, a spring holding the arm normally in raised position, and means for'preventing the arm from r sing above normal position when the lid is raised and the manually-operable member thereby removed from the arm.

' v ALBERT'F. STAPLES.

Witnesses:

D. GURNEE, L. THON. 

